The Church, or, proper, the Temple, is divided into three parts: 1. The Sanctuary (for the Clergy); 2. The Nave (for the Faithful); 3. The Porch or Narthex (for the Catechumens and the Penitents).
The Sanctuary must be at the east side of the building. It is separated from the body of the auditorium by a screen or wall, called the Iconostasis. This is a Greek word and signifies a place for pictures or images. There are three doorways in the Iconostasis, which are furnished with doors opening inwards, the central ones being double, and called the Royal Gates. The latter are not solid throughout, and behind them hangs a curtain, which is drawn and withdrawn as the ritual requires.
In the middle of the Sanctuary stands the holy table (Altar), vested, first, with a linen covering, and over this with one of rich brocade. Behind the Altar, there stands a candlestick with seven lights. Upon the holy table is kept an ark or casket, often in the shape of a temple, and usually made of metal, which contains the Holy Sacrament, reserved for the Communion of the sick (and sometimes for the absent), or for the Liturgy of the Presanctified, which is sung in the days of Great Lent. At the Celebration of the Liturgy, a cloth containing Relics, called the Antimins, is spread upon the Altar, and upon this are placed the sacred vessels with their coverings or veils. The Antimins are blessed only by the Bishop, and by him they are distributed among the churches. The holy Liturgy is offered over them in respect to the saints, and in memory of the times when the Church was persecuted, when the faithful were obliged to conceal themselves in order to celebrate the mysteries, which they celebrated over the graves of the Martyrs.
In the north of the Sanctuary is the Chapel of the Prothesis, i.e., if this part of the Sanctuary is partitioned off so as to form a separate enclosure; but usually in the north part of the Sanctuary there stands simply the Table of Oblations, which is also vested in accord with the best means of the church or parish. Upon this Table, the sacred Gifts are prepared with significant rites before the beginning of the Liturgy. In the south of the Sanctuary is the Vestry. Here are kept Myrrh for holy Chrism, the holy vessels, and other things used by the ministers of the Altar. This and the Chapel of the Prothesis communicate with the Nave of the church by the doors already mentioned as being in the Iconostasis, on either side of the Royal Gates.
The Iconostasis, as you see, is covered with panels, which are adorned with likenesses of the Redeemer and of the Saints. On the right-hand or south side of the Royal Gates, there is always a painting representing our Lord, and in a panel on the opposite side, one of the Mother of God. In large churches, the Iconostasis is generally divided into three tiers. In the first and lowest of these are the pictures of the Savior and of the Most Blessed Virgin, disposed as before mentioned, and in other panels those of the Saint to whom the church is dedicated, then St. Basil, St. Nicholas, or others. In the second tier are depicted the company of the Apostles, with the Lord, the Ever-Virgin, and John the Baptist in their midst. In the third tier the Prophets being collected, we may also see the Martyrs, the holy women, and other saints. Above the center of the Iconostasis, a cross is fixed. On the Royal Gates, the joyous Annunciation is pictured, and around it, the four Evangelists. Over this holy entrance, you see Jesus in the midst of the Mystic Supper with His twelve. On the north and south doors, the holy Archangels and the holy Archdeacons are represented.
The raised floor of the Sanctuary, as you see, projects westward beyond the Iconostasis into the Nave, and forms the part called the Soleia. In the middle of this Soleia is the Ambon. Here the Deacon says the Ectenias, or supplications, and reads the Gospel. From the Ambon the Priest, or another assistant whom the Bishop selects, preaches the Word of God. Next to the Sanctuary, and generally on both ends of the Soleia itself, the choir stands. In some cities, where it is possible, two choirs sing the services. They sing antiphonally. When one choir intones certain hymns or psalms, the other responds to the first, and sometimes repeats, for greater solemnity, what the first choir had already sung. This way of singing in the church also reminds us of the heavenly choirs, which, praising God, call one to another, proclaiming His awfully majestic, everlasting glory.
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